#transcubus sauron

[straynoahide]

he was seduced by evil promises, and becomes a seductive evil himself. the cycle of corruption, the succubus becomes the incubus and the succubus again if necessary

it's not just about his appearance even, but about his behavior - divinity and its opposite are inherently genderfluid because they contain both the masculine and feminine and confuse them.

he's more masculine and warlike or more feminine and diplomatic depending on his goals - military, statecraft - who he's dealing with - he will use cruel force or subtle persuasion, blade or poison, armor or courtly dress.

there is a dialectic and it is gendered not intrinsically on his end, but on the other- attraction is a question his body answers. a brave warrior with a mission, a skilled craftsman with an ambition,... what kind of person, what kind of body do they desire?

an admiral turned covetous king on a doomed quest for immortality

that's partly why i'm looking forward to the númenor plotline. halbrand was galadriel's sauron. annatar is celebrimbor's sauron... who's going to be pharazon's sauron?

vae victis, but ultimately, vae tyrannis

[silmarillion spoilers]

pharazon's sauron, in akallabêth, begins as the humiliated and vanquished, but will rise to apotheosis by proxy

a courtier, a power behind the throne, the leader of a bloodthirsty melkorian/satanic cult

a false advisor encouraging a King to challenge the Powers, an apex nation to defy God - a man to unravel himself

One thing I love is that Tolkien never gives any specifics about Sauron's appearance in the Silmarillion, beyond the facts that he is "fair" and "beautiful." Unlike with many other Tolkien characters, there's no mention of his hair or eye color, his height, or anything else about his physical appearance as Annatar or any of his other fair forms.

It could just be because he is a shapeshifter and such details aren't important, as they aren't permanent, but I think Tolkien was a clever enough writer to have an additional purpose for it.

It allows the reader to picture Sauron as whatever is most fair to them.

In a way, it grants Sauron with the very power of shapeshifting that he has in the books; he can appear different to each reader and form himself into whatever is most fair and seductive in their own eyes.